Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

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Primus
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Primus »

I am very wary of this recommendation for vaccinating kids under 6. Moderna had a higher incidence of myocarditis in younger age groups and IIRC the number of deaths prevented in the under 30 age group by vaccination was small while the number of people getting cardiac complications was higher than in older individuals.

My 1 yr old grandson got COVID recently, had fever for two days and a slight running nose, that's all. The parents were sick for several days with high fever and bad colds. I know this is anecdotal only but kids generally have tremendous resilience.

I would like to see solid data from independent sources (I really don't trust the CDC any more, sorry) about vaccination safety in the under 6.

Just my opinion, not giving advice to anyone.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

IndraD wrote:
Amber G. wrote:
(As said before, India now has 90% adult population *fully* vaccinated. A remarkable feet.)
For US The estimation is about 160,000..
hello amber ji thanks for coming back we all benefit from your posts.
BBC reports India is 64% fully vaccinated (2 doses I believe). And cowin site also gives numbers only but we don;t know how many eligible and other denominators. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-56237778


Slightly OT but as Prof. Vidyasagar (SUTRA fame, Fellow of Royal Society, Distinguished Professor at IIT - world renowned in his field) once remarked most such reports in BBC's (and for that matter NYT, WP and unfortunately *many* Indian newspapers) are not done by scientists but 'south-asia' experts - I generally avoid even reading those sites as they are quite misleading etc..Cowin site (or any reputable site in US one can get these numbers. 90% number (of *adult* population) was recently given by GoI itself. (and can be verified by *any* reputable site).

One can get exact data - which changes with time - thanks to Cowin platform.
*Exact* numbers may differ but we do not *need* exact numbers - 2-3 sig figure are good enough

I use these numbers (to do my quick calculations).. These are not much different than other reputable numbers.

India total population ~ 1.4 Billion
Ages 65+ ~6%
Age 18-64 ~ 62%
Age 15 - 17 ~5%
Age 12-14 ~ 5%
Age 0 - 11 ~ 22%

*** So you see, 64% of *total* population is consistent with 90% of *adult* population.
(As I type this Ourworldindata site gives the number for total population are 65.1% for India and 66.9% for US - Keep in mind, about 22% in India are still not eligible for Vax)

---
What is important are the figures for 65+ (*high* 90%), Health- care workers and FLW's -- *Many* states these numbers are very high. And trend is good. (Most people are getting second dose etc..)
Once India starts vaxing 5+ children -- another 10% of the population will be eligible.
---
May be someone can get put the current data by age group in Brf for record...
But at present:
At least one dose: 92% or eligible population (>95% adult population ~) ~72.9% of *total* population.
Two doses: 82% of eligible population ( ~90% adult population) ~65.1% of total.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

ramana wrote: AmberG if you are reading please participate.
Will do. (Took a break - so have not followed or posted in brf for a while)
Tanaji, Lisa and others - saw your messages. Thanks.
I will share my thoughts about vaccinations for children - which I shared with family and friends -in the next post. I hope it will be useful for audience here.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Mort Walker »

I trust the ICMR more than the US FDA and CDC. When they don’t recommend vaccinations for under 12 years at this time.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

I see there is some discussion and interest about vaccines for kids under 6.

I am sharing some excerpts of a writeup + and interactive talk I shared in our close group. The points shared here are completely endorsed by members of my family - many of them scientists, doctors etc. With the caveat that some part shared is our personal experience - and not personal medical advice we were ready to talk more and answer question if it helps others to decide -- who may be hesitating and want to talk more. This forum is obviously not interactive so I will share some points here and keep it brief. Hope it is useful. This post is for people in USA.

- I (and my family) am *very* happy that Covid vaccines are available for children under 5.
- We were extremely lucky to have all our grandchildren (except one 1 yr old) be in Pfizer trial so not currently rushing for appointments for all
. 1 year old is getting Moderna.

- Perhaps more useful - one of the best summary of the data on these approvals that I’ve found written up so far can be found at:

<5 COVID vaccine: Q&A

Image
---
- If we were personally choosing a vaccine for our <5 Yr grand children today, we would be choosing Moderna based off of the currently available data. (But we are deeply grateful to have our grand children protected with Pfizer- don’t get me wrong! Pfizer is a good choice too.)

- One of our main concern (among others) is the growing evidence for neuroinflammation with even mild COVID infection (likely underpinning a number of the symptoms that get described as long COVID- and I’m concerned about whether this could precipitate further as-of-yet unknown neurologic outcomes a few years down the road (eg, as with EBV & MS). As such, it was a huge priority with us to get our kids vaccinated for COVID as soon as possible to minimize risks of long COVID.

This day was far too long in coming, but I’m very grateful that it’s here.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by SriKumar »

Amber G. wrote:
A semi-related question.....Is the current Covid strain in the US the same variant as what's happening in India right now or a different sub-variaint? In other words, does getting Covid in the US confer you any immunity from the current strain in India, even partially?
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

ramana wrote:Doctors Whats do we know about Shanghai lockdown?
Have we seen genomic data on this variant?
Is the variant same as North Korea outbreak?

AmberG if you are reading please participate.
Ramana - If you canCheck out detailed analysis of China's trajectory using SUTRA model - recently published..
( I think it is on IITK's site too).

Image

- China has been in the news - strict/ extended lockdowns in Shanghai. - It's ' Zero-COVID policy ' ( not allowing the infection to spread). The approach sort of worked until Omicron arrived... and then numbers rose sharply.
The data (reliable data) from china is hard to get ..Earlier numbers were so low (~.007% of population)-- not that useful for SUTRA model and we did not have (China did not share) any data on their sero survey (needed for SUTRA)-- yet we could see some points through that fuzzy data...

It is clear that the ρ was very low before the arrival of Omicron. When a fastspreading mutant-like Omicron entered the population, there was a large population
available to infect, which resulted in a large-scale increase of daily infections, which in
turn caused the Chinese authorities to resort to a very stringent lockdown ... the reach at present ~.01 ( or less) \. Therefore, reach
has a long way to go before reaching 100% and natural immunity remains very low
(vaccine immunity is very bad - their vaccines are not working for omicron). This
suggests that the pandemic is nowhere close to being over in China. Numbers may go down but as soon as restriction are removed the numbers will go up again. A difficult time lies ahead for the country.
With Omicron it seems Kerala model works worse than UP Model (as long as scientific numbers are followed very carefully)... Even Singapore now is adopting UP type model.

(Side note: A group of IITK profs recently visited USA (Bay Area)-- after 2+years It was nice to meet people in person after such a long time and lectures/presentations/meetings were very informative)
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Pratyush »

Friday before last mother got covid. We don't know who was the source of her infection. She had taken the 2 doses and the booster as well.

Her symptoms were back ach, low fever and sore throat.

The doctor administered paracitamol and vitamin supplements. She was cured in a week.

I know that it's not data in the grand scheme of things. But I think that vaccine helped her in making sure that she was not hit hard and that she could recover quickly.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by V_Raman »

I am COVID +ve as well. Probably got it from airport last week - the crowd was like ranganathan street that day!!

symptoms - high fever, chills, 80% loss of taste.

fever control is the main part - very hard. on 1000mg of tylenol 4 times a day and fever hovers around 99.4 to 101 randomly.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Cain Marko »

What are brfite thoughts on the news of excess deaths not related to COVID? Seems mainly between the age group of 18 to 65?

https://youtu.be/7f45S6vmQgA

https://youtu.be/-GXvV6Pybns

It seems insurance claims have seriously gone up this year. Any legitimacy to this? Folks are jumping to conclude that these are vaccination related but I'm not sure there is any reason to believe this.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Mort Walker »

V_Raman wrote:I am COVID +ve as well. Probably got it from airport last week - the crowd was like ranganathan street that day!!

symptoms - high fever, chills, 80% loss of taste.

fever control is the main part - very hard. on 1000mg of tylenol 4 times a day and fever hovers around 99.4 to 101 randomly.
Get better sir. BA.5 strain symptoms are more severe than Omicron. It’s too bad in the US that PCR testing doesn’t reveal the strain. Another failed US government policy.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

Starting July 15, 2022, free booster dose of COVID19 Vaccine will be available to all adults aged 18-59 years, over the next 75 days in India.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Mort Walker »

India is about to cross the 2 billion vaccine dose mark by Monday evening IST.
Total Vaccination : 1,99,98,89,097 (25,59,840)

https://www.mohfw.gov.in/
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Suraj »

Hit two billion doses at 1150am IST
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 022-07-20/ Aus set to go back to WFH due to Omicron sweep
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by vijayk »

Image


Image

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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

India's first intranasal Covid vaccine by Bharat Biotech gets DCGI approval

Meanwhile mRNA (Both Pfizer and Moderna) COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses for Adults and Adolescents targeting specific variants are now available in USA.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

Amber G. wrote:India's first intranasal Covid vaccine by Bharat Biotech gets DCGI approval

Meanwhile mRNA (Both Pfizer and Moderna) COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses for Adults and Adolescents targeting specific variants are now available in USA.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63088223 Covid infections rise by 14% in UK and now top a million
As winter returns so does covid!


Paging Amber sir!
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

https://www.reuters.com/business/health ... 022-10-02/

Moderna US declined China's request to hand over IP of vaccine in return for deal in China.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by VKumar »

Having taken two shots of AZ vaccine plus a further precautionary dose in March 22, is it advisable to take one more precautionary shot?

Will appreciate advise
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

yes if you are > 50 or have comorbidity like Diabetes
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

sweden and some more countries not giving covid vaccine to teen agers anymore https://www.thelocal.se/20220930/sweden ... teenagers/
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

Recently, in US, like almost all in my family, I got my fifth shot (3 Pfizer + 2 Moderna). Last one Moderna Bivalent Booster. Like some, I had no (or negligible) side-effects, but some in my family has 24-48 hour aches and pains after their shot.

We still avoid *unnecessary* crowd (especially indoors and strangers), travel with masks (in air-plane and inside airports) and carry on with life - including traveling and meeting family. Very few people wear masks now a days but we still do it any crowded indoor place.

We have been lucky - a very large extended family - and with few exception all have come out okay.

Exceptions :

1) My Brother and Sister-in-law (in their 80's) went to India in July. They were fully vaccinated and boosted (mRNA). This was against my recommendation as they were traveling to areas where/while my SUTRA graph showed concern (:) - For them this trip was quite important. They assured me they will be extra careful with masks and things were okay till last day in India they tested positive. Fortunately no symptoms and seriousness.
(Preventative measures after return in USA - no one else in family or close contact tested positive)
2) Last year - 2 Year old Grandchild -- Most likely from close contact with her Nanny . She was vaccinated (mRNA trial) but still got it. Fortunately *none* other (parents, uncle/aunts, siblings) caught it -- good ventilation and proper use of masks etc were followed and fortunately it did not spread in the family.
----
In India, among close friends and family things were not that lucky. Even some of the most careful people (vaccinated as recommended and following good masks habits) - including scientists and policy makers - got it. Fortunately *none* with serious illness.

Statistically masks and vaccines are very helpful but obviously they are not 100% proof.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

IndraD wrote: Paging Amber
Some of experts, I respect very much, are extremely frustrated by lack of progress in nasal vaccines..They all say that it will *stop* the spreading (by attacking the virus where they first infect) and the way to control the pandemic...
As the virus continues its accelerated ability to evade our immune response and increase its transmissibility, we urgently need to achieve population-wide respiratory mucosal immunity. The objective of breaking the chain of transmission at the individual and population level will put us in a far better position to achieve containment of the virus, no less reducing the toll of sickness and long COVID-19. The prospect of achieving this with nasal vaccines is high but will only be possible with dedicated funding, priority, and breaking down of any regulatory hurdles. While we have waited far too long to take such initiative, a new operation at lightning speed could help us get ahead of the virus and build on the initial success of COVID-19 vaccines.
Link:Operation Nasal Vaccine—Lightning speed to counter COVID-19
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

VKumar wrote:Having taken two shots of AZ vaccine plus a further precautionary dose in March 22, is it advisable to take one more precautionary shot?

Will appreciate advise
Disclaimer: Actual Policies and official recommendations may differ. Also individual case(s) have to be taken into account. I am more familiar with US situation and data but for India, main points are essentially the same.

Having said that, FWIW for people in US:

This is what I say to my family, friends and people who ask me: (Again more for US - mRNA vaccines where I am much more familiar with data).

- In USA about two thirds of adults don't plan on getting COVID boosters soon. I hope powers to be ( federal and state governments) to fix this.

- I recently got my bivalent booster (5th mRNA) and believe it’s absolutely essential. (Even to prevent serious illness) This is because ...

- with mRNA, declining protection vs hospitalization over time since your last booster. Once you are more than 4-5 months out protection declines significantly, and not just for infection but for hospitalization as well... (See some data for this basis below)

- Although basis of all this is some non-peer-reviewed papers , and my interpretation for *actual* figures but something is quite clear (and consistent with all I have seen in reputable literature) is that overall booster protection against BA.1/4/5 declines over time vs hospitalization and boosting helps.

- Boosting could help with new variants that continue to evolve and affect us as we head into winter.

Image

**** For Covidshield, Covaxin (non -mRNA) vaccines, better data is there but for all I have seen, the effectiveness after say 5 months declines (and then declines rapidly - not unlike the above graphs) so if last booster was 5+ months ago, and you can get additional booster, my advice will be 'get it'.
(Do some research - select a booster (if you have a choice) - but getting any one (any kind) would be prudent.
Last edited by Amber G. on 04 Oct 2022 03:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

IndraD wrote:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63088223 Covid infections rise by 14% in UK and now top a million
As winter returns so does covid!


Paging Amber sir!
Looking at data and feeding it in SUTRA, it is becoming quite clear that BQ.1.1 will drive a variant wave in Europe and North America before the end of November.
BQ.1.1's relative share has kept more than doubling every week
It has taken just 19 days to grow 8-fold
..
Image
For comparison:
Alpha had ~7%/day growth advantage
Delta had ~11%/day over Alpha
BA.1 Omicron had ~20-25%/day over Delta
BA.2 had ~11%/day over BA.1
BA.4/5 had ~11%/day over BA.2
Looks like BQ.1.1 is less drastic than Omicron vs Delta but comparable to Delta, BA.2 & BA.4/5 waves
(Possible that XBB, BS.1.1 or another BA.2.75* offshoot will be able to keep up with BQ.1.1, but this would not make wave dynamics better, only worse)

Bad news regarding BQ.1.1 is that it escapes all available monoclonal antibody cocktails, even those that are still working against BA.5

For folks in USA ..Don't like to repeat my self but it Looks like a pretty good time to get a booster dose if one is eligible.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

^^^Meanwhile per SUTRA model - trajectory for India:
There is not likely to be any wave in the near future.
(Mostly due to the fact that new variants so far have not been able to bypass natural immunity significantly, it is likely that future variants will also not be able to, and ripples like the one seen in June-July will continue to happen as slowly natural immunity is lost.
(Disclaimer: Unless a mutant which bypasses immunity spreads)

Image

Beta is around 3.2 at present (significantly down from few months ago - but still quite high), reach is near 100%, immunity level (From both natural + vaccines) in population is close to 95%.

(But as I said, beta is quite high - for individual safety - it is *still* a good practice to get booster and *still* avoid *unnecessary* indoor crowds (wear masks inside air-plane, etc).
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Atmavik »

Got my parents 4th dose ( booster ) before returning to India from us . Initially they were hesitant but I managed to convince them .

@Amber G garu, any update on a therapeutic. For this pandemic to end we need an effective therapeutic
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

Laboratory studies posted on preprint servers in recent weeks lend credence to this idea1–5. Several teams have found that the two variants have a similar ability to evade antibodies triggered by vaccination and previous infection, with BA.5 showing a slight edge over its distant cousin. This makes BA.2.75’s rise in India — where BA.5 is also present — fairly perplexing, says Yunlong Richard Cao, an immunologist at Peking University in Beijing who co-led one of the studies1. “It’s weird.”

His team thinks that India’s immunity profile is part of the explanation. In 2021, the country saw an explosive wave of cases caused by the Delta variant, which shares a key mutation with BA.5. Cao suspects that previous Delta infections provide added protection against BA.5, leaving an opening for BA.2.75.

Cao and his team found that several people who had had Delta infections after vaccination produced antibodies that were more potent against BA.5 than against BA.2.75. “My guess is that BA.2.75 probably won’t prevail that much outside India”, especially in countries that weren’t hit hard by Delta, Cao adds.
Will ‘Centaurus’ be the next global coronavirus variant? Indian cases offers clues https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02154-4
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

thanks for usefuls posts Amber!
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

Atmavik wrote:Got my parents 4th dose ( booster ) before returning to India from us . Initially they were hesitant but I managed to convince them .

@Amber G garu, any update on a therapeutic. For this pandemic to end we need an effective therapeutic
I am really glad that they did.

There is a new report on myocarditis after mRNA Covid vaccines w/verification of cases https://acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-2274


Overall incidence ages 5-39
1st dose: 1 in 200,000
2nd dose: 1 in 30,000
3rd dose: 1 in 50,000
"the benefits of mRNA vaccination greatly outweigh the risk"

(Another important reason for bivalent boosters ... regarding BQ.1.1 is, as I said in previous post that it escapes all available monoclonal antibody cocktails, even those that are still working against BA.5, so prevention is even more important.)
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Post by Amber G. »

The Novavax (India's Covavax) vaccine induces robust T-cell immunity
Very nice commentary in https://www.jci.org/articles/view/163614

Could be a good choice for a booster...(though like Moderna or Pfizer it does not have specific bivalent type and most sites in USA may not carry it) .. (I have put a question to an expert to get their perspective on how good this will be as a booster - will update the post if I get an answer)

There is some apples to apples comparison between mRNA, other vaccines(including covidshield) and this...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... via%3Dihub
Image
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Post by Amber G. »

^^^^ Few more reports from quite reputable sources..
Novavax COVID vaccine surprisingly effective against all Omicron variants.
New data (yet to be peer-reviewed and published in a journal), indicates Novavax's vaccine induces a strong antibody response against all circulating Omicron variants

Novavax is same as India's Covavax (Protein base) seem to work quite good (like mRNA) -- In US, I believe, it is not that widely used for booster... Indications are in India's case this choice for booster may be a good plan..I hope scientists/GoI is looking into the data...

Meanwhile I saw South America data for effectiveness of mRNA booster with inactivated virus vaccine Coronavac (l covaxin type ) - also AZ type primary vaccines.. both cases data showed MRNA boosters work extremely well. (Similar studies in past have similar results)

Link:mRNA boost offers better protection against COVID-19 in people who received two Coronavac doses
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Post by Amber G. »

Few weeks ago, I watched *so many* different nations, praising India's for its vaccines, it's help to other nations. Hundreds of millions of doses to close to 100 nations... South American nations, African nations, Caribbean and a few Western/European were praising it.. Rare to see both Ukraine and Russia mentioned India in positiver terms in UNGA address...

Here is one example - (Forwarded by Sutra's Prof Vidyasagar's retweet ) - out of dozens other who spoke similarly... "We carry India friendship as "vaccine maitri " literally inside us.." .."And we will never forget.... very grateful to PM Modi" "So well said! Feel very Proud. Well done narendramodi and @DrSJaishankar"
<Video Link>
@DrSJaishankar's office produce a very nice video, collecting these sample quotes ==worth watching...
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

one understands Pfizer chief ducked questions on its covid vaccine in EU council
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

Folks - Few thoughts:

1 - In USA the numbers are some-what stable (in the sutra sense -stable phase) but new variants are of concern - All my family members have bivalent booster - now available to 5+ Years. Recommend that all get it. (Number of people who have gotten it is much less than what i expected) Next 4-5 weeks there most likely a rise. Mask in crowded area will be good.

2. Similarly for India. The rise of cases may show relatively small ripple, but again some of the new variants are of concern.

- If you can get (and doctors recommend it) a booster, please do. Covidshield, I believe is not being manufactured, SII's is now manufacturing Covavax is for the boosters. But people are tired of vaccines and I am told, unlike USA, people do not take yearly that regularly in India so boosting rate is not going to be that high. (Good news is, natural immunity in India is quite high so we are not going to see the big peak).

- Nasal vaccine - progress is slow - mainly there is much less urgency - but that, IMO would be, as said many times before, effective in preventing transmission.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Manish_P »

No takers for boosters, 100 million Covishield doses dumped: SII
Serum Institute of India's owner and CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said the company stopped production of the Covishield vaccine in December last year and some 100 million doses it had in stock at the time were dumped upon expiry.

"Since December 2021, we have stopped production of Covishield. The booster vaccines have no demand as people now seem fed up with Covid. Honestly, I'm also fed up. We all are," he said while speaking to the press on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN).
vijayk
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by vijayk »

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/10 ... -wuhan-lab
COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the cutting-edge biotech facility at the center of swirling suspicions about the pandemic’s onset, was far more troubled than previously known, explosive documents unearthed by a Senate research team reveal. Following the trail of evidence, Vanity Fair and ProPublica provide the clearest picture yet of a laboratory institute in crisisCOVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the cutting-edge biotech facility at the center of swirling suspicions about the pandemic’s onset, was far more troubled than previously known, explosive documents unearthed by a Senate research team reveal. Following the trail of evidence, Vanity Fair and ProPublica provide the clearest picture yet of a laboratory institute in crisis
IndraD
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by IndraD »

Crisis as excess deaths soar to levels higher than during Covid pandemic

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/1 ... -pandemic/
Excess deaths are stubbornly high and show no sign of slowing, despite a fall in coronavirus cases.

Data from the Institute of Faculty of Actuaries Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI), which takes into account the ageing population, is also showing significant increases in excess deaths.

The CMI found that there were 13 per cent more deaths this week than if death rates were the same as 2019.

“That’s another significant excess,” said a spokesman. “Calculated excess deaths were significantly higher than the number of deaths mentioning Covid on the death certificate. This continues the pattern of recent months.

“Cumulative mortality rates year to date are 3.3 per cent of a full year’s mortality worse than 2019.”

The new data follow analysis from The Telegraph that showed that in the past six months, there have been more excess deaths from causes other than Covid than deaths due to coronavirus for the entire year.

There have been 18,734 deaths due to Covid this year, but since May there were 24,440 deaths where the primary cause was another condition.

Over the past six months, non-Covid excess deaths have been running at three times the rate of Covid deaths.

Some of those people did die with a coronavirus infection, but it was not the main reason for the death.

Covid death registrations published by the ONS have been creeping up in the past few weeks, following a rise in coronavirus cases in the middle of September. However, the government dashboard is now showing a drop in deaths.

While ONS figures only run to Oct 21, the dashboard figures are updated up to Oct 27 and show a drop in Covid deaths in England of 10 per cent over the previous week.
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Re: Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

Post by Amber G. »

Moderna BA.5 bivalent booster results announced:
(via @moderna_tx press release)
Few points:
—largest study to date of >500 adults, ages 19-89
—5-6 fold higher BA.5 neutralizing Abs vs original booster
—"robust" increased nAbs vs BQ.1.1
(Details see the report..or in news coverage.

Solid evidence that the bivalent booster elicits a strong and broadened neutralizing antibody immune response.. but less than 27% of Americans 65+, the have had it (poor uptake across all age groups).
IMO: They made a really good decision to update the vaccine (but science communicators didn't understand that)
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